OutKast Is On The Inside Track
By Alex White - Staff Writer
Come down to the dirty South with me, where we find OutKast, whose latest effort ATLiens will have you all moving to a new kind of groove. No doubt, OutKast's new album is the bomb. It is already nearing gold status and is expected to go platinum soon. While OutKast has apparently grown lyrically since its last album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, it has still kept that laid-back brand of southern fried funk that has made it popular since day one.
From a lyrical standpoint, OutKast approached ATLiens in a very different way. Subjects such as spiritualism, the state of the black community, racism, partying and your everyday pimp playa-type stuff are still the group's focal points, but everything has been taken to a higher level. OutKast's rhymes are more clear and concise this time around.
While at times ATLiens may seem to be coming at you from outer space, after a few repeated listens, you'll find that members Dre and Big Boi are about as well-grounded as you can get. Big Boi's behind-the-beat rap flow complements Dre's rapid-fire southern drawl in such a way that they are immediately recognizable when you hear them.
Always willing to try new and innovative things, OutKast incorporated some new things here and there on ATLiens that add a certain depth to this CD. This depth was missing on the band's first release. While a great deal of the album features simple, hard-core beats and rhymes, tracks like "13th Floor" and "Babylon" use strings, piano and acoustic guitar. The addition of these classical instruments adds a smoothness to these tracks that is very reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield's work in the 70s.
While ATLiens is one of the best albums out right now, it is one of the darkest records I've heard in a while. Throughout the album's 15 cuts you'll hear eerie noises as well as entire tracks that sound more like they belong in a hip-hop horror movie than on an OutKast album.
Still, ATLiens is the bomb. Of the 15 tracks (almost an hour's worth of music) there is not one tired song to be found. The first single off of the album, "Elevators," is indicative of what the rest of the album. Tracks like "Two Dope Boyz in a Cadillac," "Millennium" and "Wheelz of Steel" will definitely have you nodding your head in appreciation.
As with the last CD, much of ATLiens was produced by Organized Noize Productions, which produces the work of fellow southwest Atlantans like the Goodie MoB, Society of Soul and Rico Wade. In the past few years, Organized Noize Productions has defined a new sound in the field of hip-hop music that is distinctly southern yet appealing to the masses.
The Organized Noize sound encompasses the world of pimps, players, activists, poets and preachers and combines them all into one smooth blend of politically aware hip-hop funk. Anyone who has been to a Goodie MoB concert knows what I mean. As far as hip-hop music in the South is concerned, OutKast and the Organized Noize family are definitely where it's at.
OutKast got its start rapping at East Point's Tri-Cities High School, where it was eventually discovered by the Organized Noize crew. Soon after that, the band was picked up by LaFace Records, which released the single "Player's Ball." That song landed at number one on Billboard's rap charts for six consecutive weeks.
With the hip-hop world anticipating OutKast's debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik entered the R&B charts at number one and went gold in just a few short weeks. Following the further releases of singles like "Git Up, Git Out" and the title song, the album went platinum and put OutKast on the map.
OutKast gained further exposure last year by adding southern flavor to the West Coast-dominated soundtrack for Higher Learning and to the East Coast's New Jersey Drive soundtrack.
With OutKast having gained a following in the North, South, East and West, chances are it's going to blow up this year. The group is on tour right now, and its latest single, "Elevators," is all over the radio, in the clubs and on the streets, blasted from low riders and Land Cruisers alike. It is clear that brothers Dre and Big Boi, both 21, have some deep matters on their minds. And judging by their latest work on ATLiens, their best is yet to come.